Business Central and SharePoint Integration: A Smarter Way to Manage Document Attachments
If you've been using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for a while, you know how quickly document attachments can accumulate. Vendor invoices, customer purchase orders, supporting documentation, and other files all add up over time.
Traditionally, these attachments have been stored within the Business Central database, contributing to database growth and potentially increasing storage costs.
With Microsoft's newer external file storage capabilities, organizations have another option: store Business Central document attachments in Microsoft SharePoint while continuing to access them directly from Business Central.
This is an exciting improvement for companies already using Microsoft 365 and SharePoint as part of their daily operations.
Let's explore what this functionality does, why you might want to implement it, and what you need to know before getting started.
What Is the Business Central SharePoint Integration?
Microsoft has introduced external file storage capabilities that allow Business Central document attachments to be stored outside the Business Central database.
Instead of saving the actual file within Business Central, the system can store the attachment in a connected SharePoint document library.
The goal is simple: keep Business Central as the place users work while allowing SharePoint to handle the file storage.
For example, imagine a purchasing team that regularly attaches vendor confirmations and supporting documents to purchase orders.
With external storage configured, users can continue working with attachments through Business Central, while the underlying files are stored in SharePoint.
This provides an opportunity to better manage Business Central storage consumption without requiring users to completely change how they work.
Why Should You Consider Using SharePoint for Attachments?
1. Reduce Business Central Database Storage
One of the biggest benefits is the potential reduction in Business Central database storage growth.
As businesses attach more documents to transactions and master records, storage consumption increases. Depending on the organization's licensing and storage allocation, additional database capacity can become an expense.
Moving new document attachments to SharePoint can help reduce future database growth.
Keep in mind that SharePoint has its own storage limits and licensing considerations, so this is not unlimited free storage.
2. Leverage Your Existing Microsoft 365 Investment
Many organizations already use SharePoint for document management.
By integrating Business Central with SharePoint, you can take advantage of an existing Microsoft 365 environment rather than relying exclusively on Business Central database storage.
Depending on how the SharePoint environment is configured, organizations can leverage capabilities such as:
Document retention and governance
SharePoint security and access management
Microsoft 365 compliance policies
SharePoint storage administration
Document library organization
It's important to remember that SharePoint permissions and retention policies must be configured appropriately. Storing a document in SharePoint does not automatically mean every Business Central user should have direct access to it through SharePoint.
3. Maintain a Familiar Business Central Experience
One of the most important considerations when implementing new functionality is user adoption.
Users should not have to navigate to SharePoint every time they need to attach or retrieve a document.
With supported external file storage functionality configured, users can continue interacting with document attachments through Business Central.
This helps minimize disruption while changing where the underlying files are stored.
4. Support Long-Term Growth
For organizations processing large transaction volumes, attachment storage can become a significant consideration.
Think about how many documents your company generates each year:
Vendor invoices and purchasing documentation
Customer purchase orders
Sales transaction supporting documents
Shipping and receiving documentation
Customer and vendor correspondence
Over several years, these files can represent a substantial amount of storage.
An external storage strategy can help organizations manage that growth more effectively.
How Does the Integration Work?
At a high level, the integration connects Business Central to an external storage provider, such as SharePoint, using Microsoft's supported configuration and authentication mechanisms.
Once configured, Business Central can save supported document attachments to the external storage location rather than storing the file contents directly in its database.
The typical implementation involves:
Step 1: Review Your Current Environment
Confirm your Business Central version, external storage feature availability, and Microsoft 365 licensing.
Step 2: Identify the SharePoint Storage Location
Determine which SharePoint site and document library should store the attachments.
Consider permissions, storage capacity, governance, and how the library will be maintained.
Step 3: Configure Authentication and Permissions
Depending on the supported integration configuration, administrative assistance may be needed to authorize Business Central to access the SharePoint storage location.
This may involve Microsoft Entra ID application permissions and administrator consent.
Step 4: Configure External File Storage in Business Central
Complete the supported external file storage setup and connect it to the designated SharePoint location.
Step 5: Test the Integration
Before rolling the functionality out to users, test common scenarios such as:
Uploading an attachment to a supported Business Central record
Opening and downloading the attachment
Deleting an attachment
Verifying the file is stored in the expected SharePoint location
Confirming users have the appropriate access
Step 6: Plan for Existing Attachments
One important consideration is what happens to attachments already stored in Business Central.
Enabling external file storage does not automatically mean all historical attachments will be migrated to SharePoint.
Organizations should evaluate whether they want to migrate historical attachments or simply use SharePoint for new attachments moving forward.
Any historical migration should be separately planned, tested, and validated.
What About Existing Attachments?
This is one of the first questions I would recommend asking before implementing the integration.
If your organization has been using Business Central for several years, you may already have thousands of attachments stored in the database.
There are two common approaches to consider:
Option 1: Store New Attachments in SharePoint
Leave existing attachments in their current location and use external storage for new attachments.
This is generally the simpler approach because it avoids a separate historical migration project.
Option 2: Migrate Historical Attachments
Evaluate a separate process to move existing attachments to SharePoint.
This requires additional planning to ensure the documents remain properly associated with their Business Central records and can still be accessed.
The effort will depend on the number of attachments, their total size, and the migration approach.
How Long Does Setup Take?
For an organization with an existing SharePoint environment and the necessary administrative access, the initial configuration may be relatively straightforward.
As a general planning estimate, 1–2 hours may be sufficient for a basic setup and initial testing, assuming there are no unexpected permission or environment issues.
However, this estimate would not include:
Migrating historical attachments
Custom SharePoint library structures
Extensive security or compliance reviews
Custom development
Troubleshooting complex Microsoft Entra ID permissions
Your implementation partner will likely need assistance from your Microsoft 365 or SharePoint administrator.
Important Considerations Before Enabling the Integration
Although this functionality offers some excellent benefits, there are a few things I would review before implementing it in a production environment.
Storage: Confirm your available SharePoint capacity and understand how your organization's storage consumption will change.
Security: Review how Business Central users and SharePoint permissions interact. Direct access to the SharePoint library should be controlled appropriately.
Backup and Retention: SharePoint and Business Central have different data protection and retention considerations. Make sure your backup and recovery processes account for both environments.
Supported Attachments: Not every file stored or generated within Business Central is necessarily covered by the external attachment storage feature. Validate the specific document types and processes your organization uses.
Third-Party Extensions: If your organization uses ISV solutions or custom extensions that manage attachments, confirm whether those solutions support the external storage configuration.
Historical Data: Determine whether existing attachments should remain in Business Central or be migrated through a separate project.
Microsoft Resources and Setup Documentation
For those interested in learning more, here are some helpful resources.
Microsoft Documentation
Store Document Attachments in External File Storage – Microsoft Learn
External Storage Support for Document Attachments – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Release Plan
Community Resource
My Take: Is It Worth Implementing?
For organizations already using SharePoint and Microsoft 365, this is absolutely functionality worth evaluating.
Business Central is an ERP system, and while attaching documents to records is incredibly useful, organizations should also think strategically about where those documents are stored and how that storage will scale.
I particularly like that this approach can allow users to continue working within Business Central without requiring them to learn an entirely new document attachment process.
That said, I wouldn't recommend simply enabling it without first reviewing security, storage, existing attachments, and any third-party extensions that might be impacted.
A little planning up front can save a lot of headaches later.
Final Thoughts
Microsoft continues to expand Business Central's integration with the broader Microsoft ecosystem, and external document storage is another example of how organizations can take advantage of the tools they may already own.
Whether your goal is to reduce Business Central database growth, improve your document storage strategy, or better leverage SharePoint, this functionality is worth exploring.
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